The President and the Media
 

http://www.slate.com/id/2214236/

It's an interesting move by the administration. From a PR perspective, it comes off very much like he's embracing technology and going straight to the people. From another (slightly more cynical) perspective, it gives him and his team more control than they would have in a traditional media question and answer format, and it gives him more power over dictating his message to the public.

This seems to be the next logical step in the President's use of the media...any thoughts?

I thought about that also.

I even wondered how many of the questions that were used in the town hall online meeting were either screened or possibly written up by staffers.

You know me...conspiracy theorist, HA!

On the other hand tho, it's good to see a president that is doing his best to be relatable and somewhat accessible to the public by using the technology that we all use everyday. It gives a feeling that he is among the people not 'above' the people.

Good article and as they put it "a non traditional way" to reach the public.

I don't think that's being a conspiracy theorist though, as much as it is recognizing the truth. People hopefully realize that he wouldn't be doing this if it didn't have some benefit for his administration, and the benefit is the ability to more closely control the way his message is disseminated.

That's not a bad thing, it's just political reality.

It also seems to me that this becomes more essential to Obama as he has been getting more critical mainstream media coverage.

Personally, I think he's overestimating how much the average American will actively seek out information on presidential policy. And if he response to concerns of actually informed citizens most likely to want direct information, the level of detail in his answers will almost have to be too wonky for the average person.

he got elected because of his haircut

that, and third party candidates aren't allowed on tv